Mike Matthews'
Wednesday Message


March 31, 2021
Hello everyone,

It has been another great week of next steps in MBUSD! We get to add March 29 to our long list of opening dates on which we have safely brought our students back to campus. Our MBMS and MCHS in-person programs began this week. In my visits to both schools this week, I have seen teachers leading tours of our 9th grade students as they walked around the Costa campus for the very first time. They could not get over how big the campus is. I heard many comments like, "This is like a college campus!" I tell you - with our new athletic complex that we finished this year, and the quad and Math-Science additions from back in 2013, Mira Costa does look like a college campus! I also was fortunate to witness many "reunions" as students walked onto campus, having not seen each other for over a year, yelling each others' names and giving big "air hugs." Many of our teachers and staff who have not been in their classrooms for a long time were thrilled to be there.
MBMS
Students line up for Ruvna prescreen checks at the MBMS front gate.
MCHS
Costa Principal Ben Dale and Board Member Cathey Graves greet students at Mira Costa.
It was just as awesome at the middle school, where it was wonderful to add 7th and 8th graders into the mix with our 6th graders who have been there since March 8. I was there at drop-off and got to see many happy parents sending their children to class for the first time in a year. This has been a long time coming! Again, our teachers were ready for the day, smiling behind their masks, and once again learning to teach in a totally new structure, navigating everything from social distance requirements to supporting students in-person and online, simultaneously.

And all the while, our TK-5 AM/PM four days a week program has remained strong, and everyone now knows that routine. So as of today, we are back TK-12, for the first time since March 13, 2020.

Week of April 12
This week, the in-person days are just one period. When we come back from Spring Break, the secondary schedule expands to three periods a day, two days a week. We will learn so much in that week about passing periods, traffic flow, bathroom lines, and every other aspect of being more fully open. Please remember, if you travel outside the state, current DPH rules require you to isolate for 10 days. It is imperative that we follow these rules to keep our community healthy and safe.

Week of April 19
In addition to all of this, I am excited to announce that beginning on April 19, we will see all of our in-person opportunities expand.

At tonight’s board meeting, I look forward to sharing information regarding an agreement that we reached last night with our teachers' union. The agreement is fully in line with the new guidelines established by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and will greatly expand in-person learning opportunities for all students.

Beginning April 19, we will see our in-person students attending school five days a week at all school sites, and we will be expanding in-person instructional hours at all levels as well. I look forward to sharing details at tonight’s board meeting. This has been a long road to returning to in-person instruction, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for our Board and for every single employee who has helped us to get here.

It's going to take an extraordinary amount of work by our IT and Maintenance and Operations departments and so many others between now and April 19 to make this happen. Our teachers will once again be adapting to a new teaching environment. And all of us will be solving new problems, some of which we know, and some we have not even seen yet.

I am going to thank an extensive list of people at tonight's Board meeting. For now, thanks again to every single employee who has risen to the challenge. You have my gratitude and respect. And to all of our parents who have been supportive of our employees and their efforts, and who have done so much to support their own children's learning during this time, thank you. Once again, we continue to move forward.

I look forward to sharing the details at tonight's Board meeting. Thanks to all, and continue staying safe,
Mike Matthews
MBUSD Superintendent
Manhattan Beach Unified School District

325 S. Peck Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310.318.7345